Sirach (Selections)

⁶The root of wisdom—to whom has it been revealed?
     Her subtleties—who knows them?
⁸There is but one, wise and truly awesome,
     seated upon his throne—the Lord.
⁹It is he who created her,
     saw her and measured her,
Poured her forth upon all his works,
¹⁰     upon every living thing according to his bounty,
     lavished her upon those who love him.

¹⁴The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord;
     she is created with the faithful in the womb.
¹⁵With the godly she was created from of old,
     and with their descendants she will keep faith.

¹⁶The fullness of wisdom is to fear the Lord;
     she inebriates them with her fruits.
¹⁷Their entire house she fills with choice foods,
     their granaries with her produce.

¹⁸The crown of wisdom is the fear of the Lord,
     flowering with peace and perfect health.
¹⁹Knowledge and full understanding she rains down;
     she heightens the glory of those who possess her.

²⁰The root of wisdom is to fear the Lord;
     her branches are long life.
²¹The fear of the Lord drives away sins;
     where it abides it turns back all anger.

²²Unjust anger can never be justified;
     anger pulls a person to utter ruin.
²³Until the right time, the patient remain calm,
     then cheerfulness comes back to them.
²⁴Until the right time they hold back their words;
     then the lips of many will tell of their good sense.

²⁵Among wisdom’s treasures is the model for knowledge;
     but godliness is an abomination to the sinner.
²⁶If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments,
     and the Lord will bestow her upon you;
²⁷For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline;
     faithfulness and humility are his delight.

²⁸Do not disobey the fear of the Lord,
     do not approach it with duplicity of heart.
²⁹Do not be a hypocrite before others;
     over your lips keep watch.
³⁰Do not exalt yourself lest you fall
     and bring dishonor upon yourself;

For then the Lord will reveal your secrets
     and cast you down in the midst of the assembly.
Because you did not approach the fear of the Lord,
     and your heart was full of deceit.

⁴Accept whatever happens to you;
     in periods of humiliation be patient.
⁵For in fire gold is tested,
     and the chosen, in the crucible of humiliation.
⁶Trust in God, and he will help you;
     make your ways straight and hope in him.

⁷You that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy,
     do not stray lest you fall.
⁸You that fear the Lord, trust in him,
     and your reward will not be lost.
⁹You that fear the Lord, hope for good things,
     for lasting joy and mercy.

¹⁰Consider the generations long past and see:
     has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed?
Has anyone persevered in his fear and been forsaken?
     has anyone called upon him and been ignored?
¹¹For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;
     forgives sins and saves in time of trouble.

¹²Woe to timid hearts and drooping hands,
     to the sinner who walks a double path!
¹³Woe to the faint of heart! For they do not trust,
     and therefore have no shelter!
¹⁴Woe to you that have lost hope!
     what will you do at the Lord’s visitation?

¹⁵Those who fear the Lord do not disobey his words;
     those who love him keep his ways.
¹⁶Those who fear the Lord seek to please him;
     those who love him are filled with his law.
¹⁷Those who fear the Lord prepare their hearts
     and humble themselves before him.

¹⁸Let us fall into the hands of the Lord
     and not into the hands of mortals,
For equal to his majesty is his mercy;
     and equal to his name are his works.

³“From the mouth of the Most High I came forth,
     and covered the earth like a mist.
⁴In the heights of heaven I dwelt,
     and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
⁵The vault of heaven I compassed alone,
     and walked through the deep abyss.
⁶Over waves of the sea, over all the land,
     over every people and nation I held sway.
⁷Among all these I sought a resting place.
     In whose inheritance should I abide?

⁸“Then the Creator of all gave me his command,
     and my Creator chose the spot for my tent.
He said, ‘In Jacob make your dwelling,
     in Israel your inheritance.’
⁹Before all ages, from the beginning, he created me,
     and through all ages I shall not cease to be.
¹⁰In the holy tent I ministered before him,
     and so I was established in Zion.
¹¹In the city he loves as he loves me, he gave me rest;
     in Jerusalem, my domain.
¹²I struck root among the glorious people,
     in the portion of the Lord, his heritage.

¹³“Like a cedar in Lebanon I grew tall,
     like a cypress on Mount Hermon;
¹⁴I grew tall like a palm tree in Engedi,
     like rosebushes in Jericho;
Like a fair olive tree in the field,
     like a plane tree beside water I grew tall.
¹⁵Like cinnamon and fragrant cane,
     like precious myrrh I gave forth perfume;
Like galbanum and onycha and mastic,
     like the odor of incense in the holy tent.

¹⁶“I spread out my branches like a terebinth,
     my branches so glorious and so graceful.
¹⁷I bud forth delights like a vine;
     my blossoms are glorious and rich fruit.
¹⁹Come to me, all who desire me,
     and be filled with my fruits.
²⁰You will remember me as sweeter than honey,
     better to have than the honeycomb.
²¹Those who eat of me will hunger still,
     those who drink of me will thirst for more.
²²Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame,
     and those who serve me will never go astray.”

²³All this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God,
     the Law which Moses commanded us
     as a heritage for the community of Jacob.
²⁵It overflows, like the Pishon, with wisdom,
     and like the Tigris at the time of first fruits.
²⁶It runs over, like the Euphrates, with understanding,
     and like the Jordan at harvest time.
²⁷It floods like the Nile with instruction,
     like the Gihon at vintage time.
²⁸The first human being never finished comprehending wisdom,
     nor will the last succeed in fathoming her.
²⁹For deeper than the sea are her thoughts,
     and her counsels, than the great abyss.

³⁰Now I, like a stream from a river,
     and like water channeling into a garden—
³¹I said, “I will water my plants,
     I will drench my flower beds.”
Then suddenly this stream of mine became a river,
     and this river of mine became a sea.
³²Again I will make my teachings shine forth like the dawn;
     I will spread their brightness afar off.
³³Again I will pour out instruction like prophecy
     and bestow it on generations yet to come.

³In your youth you did not gather.
     How will you find anything in your old age?
⁴How appropriate is sound judgment in the gray-haired,
     and good counsel in the elderly!
⁵How appropriate is wisdom in the aged,
     understanding and counsel in the venerable!
⁶The crown of the elderly, wide experience;
     their glory, the fear of the Lord.

⁷There are nine who come to mind as blessed,
     a tenth whom my tongue proclaims:
The man who finds joy in his children,
     and the one who lives to see the downfall of his enemies.
⁸Happy the man who lives with a sensible woman,
     and the one who does not plow with an ox and a donkey combined.
Happy the one who does not sin with the tongue,
     who does not serve an inferior.
⁹Happy the one who finds a friend,
     who speaks to attentive ears.
¹⁰How great is the one who finds wisdom,
     but none is greater than the one who fears the Lord.
¹¹Fear of the Lord surpasses all else.
     To whom can we compare the one who has it?

¹⁹There is hardly an evil like that in a woman;
     may she fall to the lot of the sinner!
²⁰Like a sandy hill to aged feet
     is a garrulous wife to a quiet husband.
²¹Do not be enticed by a woman’s beauty,
     or be greedy for her wealth.
²²Harsh is the slavery and great the shame
     when a wife supports her husband.

²³Depressed mind, gloomy face,
     and a wounded heart—a wicked woman.
Drooping hands and quaking knees,
     any wife who does not make her husband happy.
²⁴With a woman sin had a beginning,
     and because of her we all die.
²⁵Allow water no outlet,
     and no boldness of speech to a wicked woman.
²⁶If she does not go along as you direct,
     cut her away from you.

⁵There are three things I dread,
     and a fourth which terrifies me:
Public slander, the gathering of a mob,
     and false accusation—all harder to bear than death.
⁶A wife jealous of another wife is heartache and mourning;
     everyone feels the lash of her tongue.

⁷A wicked wife is a chafing yoke;
     taking hold of her is like grasping a scorpion.
⁸A drunken wife arouses great anger,
     for she does not hide her shame.
⁹By her haughty stare and her eyelids
     an unchaste wife can be recognized.

¹⁰Keep a strict watch over an unruly wife,
     lest, finding an opportunity, she use it;
¹¹Watch out for her impudent eye,
     and do not be surprised if she betrays you:
¹²As a thirsty traveler opens his mouth
     and drinks from any water nearby,
So she sits down before every tent peg
     and opens her quiver for every arrow.

¹³A gracious wife delights her husband;
     her thoughtfulness puts flesh on his bones.
¹⁴A silent wife is a gift from the Lord;
     nothing is worth more than her self-discipline.
¹⁵A modest wife is a supreme blessing;
     no scales can weigh the worth of her chastity.
¹⁶The sun rising in the Lord’s heavens—
     the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home.
¹⁷The light which shines above the holy lampstand—
     a beautiful face on a stately figure.
¹⁸Golden columns on silver bases—
     so her shapely legs and steady feet.

²⁹A merchant can hardly keep from wrongdoing,
     nor can a shopkeeper stay free from sin;

⁴He is in attendance on the great,
     and appears before rulers.
He travels among the peoples of foreign lands
     to test what is good and evil among people.
⁵His care is to rise early
     to seek the Lord his Maker,
     to petition the Most High,
To open his mouth in prayer,
     to ask pardon for his sins.

⁶If it pleases the Lord Almighty,
     he will be filled with the spirit of understanding;
He will pour forth his words of wisdom
     and in prayer give praise to the Lord.
⁷He will direct his knowledge and his counsel,
     as he meditates upon God’s mysteries.
⁸He will show the wisdom of what he has learned
     and glory in the Law of the Lord’s covenant.

⁹Many will praise his understanding;
     his name can never be blotted out;
Unfading will be his memory,
     through all generations his name will live;
¹⁰Peoples will speak of his wisdom,
     and the assembly will declare his praise.
¹¹While he lives he is one out of a thousand,
     and when he dies he leaves a good name.

¹⁶The works of God are all of them good;
     he supplies for every need in its own time.
¹⁷At his word the waters become still as in a flask;
     he had but to speak and the reservoirs were made.
¹⁸He has but to command and his will is done;
     nothing can limit his saving action.
¹⁹The works of all humankind are present to him;
     nothing is hidden from his eyes.
²⁰His gaze spans all the ages:
     is there any limit to his saving action?
To him, nothing is small or insignificant,
     and nothing too wonderful or hard for him.
²¹No cause then to say: “What is the purpose of this?”
     Everything is chosen to satisfy a need.

²²His blessing overflows like the Nile;
     like the Euphrates it enriches the surface of the earth.
²³Even so, his wrath dispossesses the nations
     and turns fertile land into a salt marsh.
²⁴For the virtuous his paths are level,
     to the haughty they are clogged with stones.
²⁵Good things for the good he provided from the beginning,
     but for the wicked good things and bad.
²⁶Chief of all needs for human life
     are water and fire, iron and salt,
The heart of the wheat, milk and honey,
     the blood of the grape, and oil, and clothing.
²⁷For the good all these are good,
     but for the wicked they turn out evil.

²⁸There are stormwinds created to punish;
     in their fury they can dislodge mountains.
In a time of destruction they hurl their force
     and calm the anger of their Maker.
²⁹Fire and hail, famine and disease:
     these too were created for punishment.
³⁰Ravenous beasts, scorpions, vipers,
     and the avenging sword to exterminate the wicked:
All these were created to meet a need,
     and are kept in his storehouse for the proper time.
³¹When he commands them, they rejoice,
     in their assigned tasks they do not disobey his command.

³²That is why from the first I took my stand,
     and wrote down as my theme:
³³The works of God are all of them good;
     he supplies for every need in its own time.
³⁴There is no cause then to say: “This is not as good as that”;
     for each shows its worth at the proper time.
³⁵So now with full heart and voice proclaim
     and bless his name!

¹¹All that is of earth returns to earth,
     and what is from above returns above.
¹²All that comes from bribes or injustice will be wiped out,
     but loyalty remains forever.
¹³Wealth from injustice is like a flooding wadi,
     like a mighty stream with lightning and thunder,
¹⁴Which, in its rising, rolls along the stones,
     but suddenly, once and for all, comes to an end.
¹⁵The offshoot of violence will not flourish,
     for the root of the godless is on sheer rock.
¹⁶They are like reeds on riverbanks,
     withered before all other plants;
¹⁷But goodness, like eternity, will never be cut off,
     and righteousness endures forever.

¹⁸Wealth or wages can make life sweet,
     but better than either, finding a treasure.
¹⁹A child or a city will preserve one’s name,
     but better than either, finding wisdom.
Cattle and orchards make a person flourish;
     but better than either, a devoted wife.
²⁰Wine and strong drink delight the soul,
     but better than either, love of friends.
²¹Flute and harp offer sweet melody,
     but better than either, a pure tongue.
²²Grace and beauty delight the eye,
     but better than either, the produce of the field.
²³A friend and a neighbor are timely guides,
     but better than either, a sensible wife.
²⁴Relatives and helpers for times of stress;
     but better than either, charity that rescues.
²⁵Gold and silver make one’s way secure,
     but better than either, sound judgment.
²⁶Wealth and vigor make the heart exult,
     but better than either, fear of God.
In the fear of the Lord there is no want;
     whoever has it need seek no other support.
²⁷The fear of God is a paradise of blessings;
     its canopy is over all that is glorious.

²⁸My son, do not live the life of a beggar;
     better to die than to beg.
²⁹When one has to look to a stranger’s table,
     life is not worth living.
The delicacies offered bring revulsion of spirit,
     and to the intelligent, inward torture.
³⁰In the mouth of the shameless begging is sweet,
     but within him it burns like fire.

⁵The children of sinners are a reprobate line,
     and witless offspring are in the homes of the wicked.
⁶The inheritance of children of sinners will perish,
     and on their offspring will be perpetual disgrace.
⁷Children curse their wicked father,
     for they suffer disgrace because of him.
⁸Woe to you, O wicked people,
     who forsake the Law of the Most High.
⁹If you have children, calamity will be theirs;
     and if you beget them, it will be only for groaning.
When you stumble, there is lasting joy;
     and when you die, you become a curse.
¹⁰All that is nought returns to nought,
     so too the godless—from void to void.

¹¹The human body is a fleeting thing,
     but a virtuous name will never be annihilated.
¹²Have respect for your name, for it will stand by you
     more than thousands of precious treasures.
¹³The good things of life last a number of days,
     but a good name, for days without number.

But of these things do not be ashamed,
     lest you sin to save face:
²Of the Law of the Most High and his precepts,
     or of justice that acquits the ungodly;
³Of sharing the expenses of a business or a journey,
     of dividing an inheritance or property;
⁴Of accuracy of scales and balances,
     of tested measures and weights;
Of acquiring much or little,
⁵     of bargaining in dealing with a merchant;
Of constant training of children,
     of beating the sides of a wicked servant;
⁶Of a seal to keep a foolish wife at home,
     of a key where there are many hands;
⁷Of numbering every deposit,
     of recording all that is taken in and given out;
⁸Of chastisement for the silly and the foolish,
     for the aged and infirm answering for wanton conduct.
Thus you will be truly refined
     and recognized by all as discreet.